Tag: Digvijaya Singh

  • NCPCR seeks explanation from Digvijaya Singh over comments on students of RSS-backed schools 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Apex child rights body NCPCR on Monday sought explanation from Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh over his alleged remarks that students are taught hatred in RSS-backed Saraswati Shishu Mandir schools.

    The National Commission For Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) also wrote to the Madhya Pradesh DGP to probe the matter and submit a report within seven days.

    According to media reports, Singh alleged that Saraswati Shishu Mandir was “sowing the seeds of hatred in the minds of young kids”.

    Acting on a complaint, NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo wrote to Singh, seeking an explanation for his comments.

    “The remarks allegedly made by you appear to hurt the honour and character of all the children studying in Saraswati Shishu Mandir Schools.

    Prima facie the comment made by you appears to be in violation of the provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

    Along with this, it also appears to be contrary to the principles of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015,” Kanoongo said in his letter to Singh.

    “If you wish to give any specific factual information regarding the statement made by you to the Commission, please kindly make it available to the Commission within three days of receipt of the letter,” the NCPCR chief told Singh.

  • RSS-run schools sowing seeds of communal hatred, says Digvijaya; BJP hits back

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has accused the RSS-run schools Saraswati Shishu Mandir of sowing the seeds of hatred towards other religions in the minds of children, which he said later leads to religious hysteria and riots in the country.

    The BJP leaders in Madhya Pradesh reacted sharply to Singh’s statements, saying that he should rather talk about madrasas that “nurture terrorism and spread enmity”.

    Addressing a protest at Bhopal’s Neelam Park on Saturday, Singh said, “Saraswati Shishu Mandir sows the seeds of hatred towards other religions in the mind and hearts from childhood. This grows gradually and disturbs the communal harmony, creates communal bitterness, spreads religious hysteria and leads to riots in the country.”

    A video of Singh making the statement surfaced on Sunday.

    Hitting out at him over the remarks, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said in a tweet on Sunday night, “Saraswati Shishu Mandir is a school of patriotism. Only a person suffering from hallucinations can point a finger towards this institution.”

    “The country wants to know in which school of Congress it is taught to address terrorist Osama Bin Laden with ‘Ji’, call terrorist Zakir Naik a peacekeeper, humiliate the martyrdom of inspector Mohan Sharma by terming Batala House encounter as fake and ask for proof of surgical strike,” he added.

    Another BJP leader and party legislator Rameshwar Sharma said that in Shishu Mandir, there is love for the nation, religion, there is brotherhood, affection and ability to take everyone along.

    “Singh should speak about madrassas where terrorism is nurtured, humanity is crushed, the honour of daughters is robbed. He should think about the education and training of madrasas where separatism and terrorism and enmity spread,” he said.

    When asked, a Congress spokesperson refused to speak saying that he was not aware of the party’s stand on this issue.

  • ‘Will improve my language’: Madhya Pradesh BJP leader Uma Bharti after ‘slippers’ remark

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: After her controversial remarks that government officials are there only to “pick up our (leaders’) slippers”, senior BJP leader Uma Bharti has written a letter to Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh, saying she will improve her language and also urged him to do so.

    As a video containing Bharti’s critical comments against bureaucracy surfaced on social media on Monday, Singh had criticised her for telling him to speak less, while she herself used “highly objectionable” words against bureaucrats. He had also sought an apology from her over her comments.

    On Tuesday, Bharti in a brief letter to Singh said, “I am deeply hurt by my own words. I used to tell you (Singh) repeatedly that you don’t use moderate language. I will improve my language from now on, if you can do the same, then do it.”

    She also quoted a ‘chaupai’ (verse) from the epic ‘Ramayana’ in her letter to the Congress leader.

    After a video containing Bharti’s critical comments against bureaucracy surfaced on social media, the former Union minister had on Monday expressed regret over her intemperate language used during an interaction with a delegation of representatives from other backward classes (OBCs) at her home in Bhopal.

  • With 2024 general elections in mind, Congress lists issues for agitation

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Consistent agitation against the BJP government, connecting with people at grassroots and tracking feedback from the ground — these will be part of the Congress’s public outreach plan with an eye on the 2024 elections.

    The committee on agitation under Digvijaya Singh with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as a member at its first meeting discussed issues to create an atmosphere against the Modi government. During the meeting, Priyanka shared inputs related to Uttar Pradesh based on her visits to several areas. She was of the view that besides national issues, the party should also focus on state-specific matters concerning people. 

    There were also demands that Rahul Gandhi should take over as party chief. The committee agreed on three issues — inflation, farm laws and unemployment. A detailed plan will be rolled out after approval from acting Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Other issues like monetisation plan, Covid-19 mismanagement, crime against women and Pegasus were discussed.

    “Committee members were of the view that we should take one or two issues at a time and plan agitations, sit-ins, shutdowns and mass outreach programmes for 15-20 days for bigger impact. The plan to keep up the pressure and create an atmosphere against the high handedness of the BJP government. There was agreement that civil society groups should also be approached,” said a committee member. The agitation committee will work parallelly with the agitations planned by the Opposition parties from September 20-30 on several issues against the Centre.

    Expelled leaders criticise priyankaResponding to senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid’s claim that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would be the party’s face in the UP elections in 2022, expelled Congress leaders including former state minister Satyadev Tripathi said that the party’s UP in-charge had no connect with workers.

  • Digvijaya Singh equates RSS with Taliban, claims they have similar ideology on women

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Friday claimed that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Taliban have a similar ideology on women.

    “Taliban says that women are not fit to be ministers. Mohan Bhagwat said women should stay at home and take care of the household. Aren’t these similar ideologies?” he tweeted.

    Digvijaya Singh further asked the Centre to clarify its stand on the “Taliban government” in Afghanistan.

    “The Modi-Shah government will now have to clarify whether India will recognize the Taliban government in which members of a declared terrorist organization are ministers?”, he said in a tweet.

    Earlier, Singh had targetted RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat while speaking at “Saampradaayik Sadbhaavana Sammelan” (communal harmony conference) organised in Indore on Wednesday and alleged that the organisation was dividing the Hindu Muslim communities by spreading lies and misconceptions.

    Reacting to Bhagwat’s comments that the DNA of Hindus and Muslims being one, Singh asked “why were issues like love jihad being raised if that was the case?”

    “RSS has been doing the politics of divide and rule for ages. They are dividing the two communities by spreading lies and misconceptions,” Singh had alleged. (ANI)

  • Digvijaya Singh slams RSS for dividing Hindus, Muslims; targets Owaisi for ‘friendly matches’ with BJP

    By ANI

    INDORE: Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday slammed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and alleged that the organisation was dividing the Hindu and Muslim communities by spreading lies and misconceptions. Singh also indicated that the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi was in collusion with the BJP in several states during polls.

    Speaking at “Saampradaayik Sadbhaavana Sammelan” (communal harmony conference) organised in Indore, Singh also accused All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi, a former ally of the Congress, of “playing friendly matches” with the BJP in several states during crucial elections.

    Reacting to the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comments that the DNA of Hindus and Muslims being one, Singh asked “why were issues like love jihad being raised if that was the case?”

    “RSS has been doing the politics of divide and rule for ages. They are dividing the two communities by spreading lies and misconceptions,” Singh alleged.

    Attacking Owaisi, the Congress leader asked why AIMIM did not contest on all the Assembly seats in Telangana.

    “Why did it contest Bihar polls and why is it entering into the fray in Uttar Pradesh? It is just like a friendly match,” Singh said.

    Singh’s comments came even as Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections are scheduled to take place early next year.

    Owaisi was recently on a visit to the UP which is scheduled to face assembly elections early next year. He has been in talks with smaller political outfits for a possible alliance.

    At present, there are 110 Assembly constituencies in UP where Muslim voters make up around 30-39 per cent. On 44 seats, this percentage rises to 40-49 per cent while on 11 seats, the Muslim voters are around 50-65 per cent.

    In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP won a landslide victory winning 312 Assembly seats. The party secured a 39.67 per cent vote share in the elections for 403-member Assembly. Samajwadi Party (SP) bagged 47 seats, BSP won 19 while Congress could manage to win only seven seats.

    Meanwhile, Singh stated that “fundamentalist ideologies, whether of Hindus or Muslims, are nothing but two sides of the same coin.”

    Asked to comment on lyricist Javed Akhtar’s comparison between RSS and the Taliban, the Congress leader said, “Akhtar is a renowned thinker. I am not aware in what context he made the statement. But the country’s Constitution has given the freedom to every citizen including Akhtar to express his views, even if you agree with them or not.”

    Elaborating further, he said, “Satirist Sampat Saral had once defined Taliban and gave an equation that politics plus religion is equal to the Taliban.”

    the BJP on Tuesday accused former Chief Minister and Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) chief Mayawati and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi of doing communal politics in the state.

    Hitting at Mayawati for promising to ensure the security of the Brahmin community if her party came to power in Uttar Pradesh, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia recalled BSP’s old slogan “Tilak, Taraju Aur Talwar, Inko Maro Joote Char”.

    “It is good for democracy that the former chief minister left her home after getting out of her Rs 5 crore garland. Finally, she remembers a particular community. People who do not want the interest of the public and build their own mansions worth billions of rupees, have to do such things at the time of elections. It is their political compulsion,” said the BJP leader.

    Bhatia said the BJP is confident that the party will return to power in the state on the merit of the work done under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the BJP government.

    When asked about the AIMIM Chief’s statement seeking the support of the Muslim community in the state, the BJP leader said, “Wherever Owaisi will go, he will definitely spread the communal poison.”

    “But, citizens of Uttar Pradesh are mature and will vote for development. They will vote for ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas’.”

    Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections are scheduled to take place early next year. In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP won 325 seats out of a total of 403 Assembly seats. Samajwadi Party and its allies won 54 seats, BSP won 19 seats and others won 5 seats respectively.

    Owaisi on Tuesday alleged that Muslims have been “cheated” in the name of secularism as he launched a scathing attack on the Samajwadi Party and declared that he had come to Uttar Pradesh to defeat the BJP.

    “Our first effort is that our Muslim leadership should be developed in the biggest state of the country that is Uttar Pradesh,” he said, starting his political campaign in the poll-bound state from Ayodhya.

    The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen leader also said his party has made all booth-level preparations to contest 100 out of the total 403 assembly seats in UP.

    Addressing a rally at Rasulabad village in the Muslim-dominated constituency of Rudauli in Ayodhya, the AIMIM leader urged Muslims not to live “in the shadows” and alleged that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has always created fear among the community.

    “Nineteen percent (of voters) are Muslims and nine percent are Yadavs, but the chief minister will be yours (of the Yadav clan) and we (Muslims) will not even get the job of a peon,” the AIMIM chief said targeting the Samajwadi Party which has been relying on the Muslim-Yadav combination for victory in the state.

    Owaisi claimed that Yadav voters were not voting for Muslim candidates.

    He alleged that other political parties do not want the Muslim leadership to develop in the country and said Muslims were “helpless” in Uttar Pradesh as they have been denied their “share”.

    “Everyone got a share in UP, but the Muslims of UP did not get their share. Muslims have been cheated in the name of secularism, ” Owaisi alleged.

    “The AAP, SP, BSP did not want anyone from the Muslim community to emerge as a leader. As I am talking of giving participation to Muslims, they are feeling uncomfortable,” he said.

    He lashed out at the ruling BJP over the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and asserted that his objective is to defeat the saffron party.

    “We have been intimidated by (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and Yogi (Adityanath), but we have come to defeat the BJP.

    “People have lost their lives in the COVID-19 pandemic. People have died due to the lack of oxygen. The dead bodies were buried on the banks of the river and were scavenged by the dogs,” he said.

    The venue of the rally was around 20 km away from Dhannipur, where a mosque is coming up under the Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi case.

    “Why do Muslims in Ayodhya feel ashamed or apprehensive to even talk about the Babri demolition.

    All political parties have exploited Muslims and Dalits,” Owaisi said Talking about the controversy over Ayodhya being referred to by its old name ‘Faizabad’ in his posters, he said, “Some people started saying that I don’t want to take the name of Ayodhya. I want to say that Ayodhya belongs to India. Faizabad belongs to India and Owaisi also belongs to India.”

    Jailed gangster and former MP Atiq Ahmad’s wife Shaista Praveen on Tuesday joined the AIMIM in the presence of Owaisi in Lucknow.

    Ahmad joined the new party in absentia.

    Owaisi alleged that SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party used Muslims as “slaves”.

    The AIMIM leader began his three-day tour to UP from Tuesday.

    He is scheduled to visit Sultanpur and Barabanki on September 8 and September 9 respectively.

    Owaisi has been making efforts to expand the party across the country and has had some success in Maharashtra and Bihar.

    The party, however, could not make gains in West Bengal.

    “Muslims used to do ‘gulami’ (slavery) of Samajwadi Party and BSP and raise slogans in their favour and to make their government.

    But when it came to giving them participation, they did not talk,” he said “When it comes to giving participation and representation to the Muslims, they say it will increase communalism.

    The SP and BSP contested elections together, yet the BJP won. Muslims had given them votes. Where have all those votes gone?” he said.

    Owaisi said he has joined hands with Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party and other parties are also with them.

    On giving tickets to Hindus, Owaisi said, “The OBCs are our brothers, we will give tickets to Dalits also and they will win.

    Meanwhile, the BJP hit back at Owaisi, saying Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will not allow “Jinnah’s jihadi mentality” to flourish in Uttar Pradesh.

    “Giving protection to a notorious criminal like Atiq Ahmed in the name of providing protection to the community, inducting him and his wife in AIMIM shows Owaisi’s mentality.

    But keep in mind that Yogi Ji will not allow Jinnah’s johadi mentality to flourish in UP,” BJP Kannauj MP Subrat Pathak said in a tweet in Hindi.

    Owaisi, however, defended his decision to induct Ahmad, who has several criminal cases lodged against him, claiming that several BJP leaders are also facing several cases.

    A five-time legislator and one-time MP, Atiq Ahmad has more than 90 criminal cases, including those of murders, abductions, illegal mining, extortion, intimidation and fraud, against him.

    He is lodged in a Gujarat jail.

    He was shifted there from Uttar Pradesh on the Supreme Court’s directions in 2019.

    The Congress also questioned Owaisi’s move to begin his poll campaign from Ayodhya.

    “I came to know that AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi started his poll campaign in the state from Ayodhya. Though he does politics of minority, I was thinking that he would start his poll campaign from Deva Sharif (in Barabanki),” National Chairman of Congress’ Minorities Department Imran Pratapgarhi told PTI in Lucknow, ”

    “The entire UP knows that for whom he is contesting the polls. Though everyone has the right to contest polls, why is he contesting only on 100 seats and not on all the 403 Assembly seats in UP,” he said.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Muslims can never become majority in India as their fertility rate decreasing: Digvijaya

    #39;I will prove that Muslims can never become a majority community in this country leaving behind Hindus as the fertility rate of Muslims is decreasing. #39;

  • Digvijaya Singh to lead Congress panel for ‘sustained’ agitations

    By Express News Service

    BENGALURU: As the Opposition Congress is planning to launch a series of agitations against the policies of the Union Government, the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) on Thursday constituted a committee headed by senior leader Digvijaya Singh to plan sustained agitations on national issues.

    Senior Congress leader and MLC BK Hariprasad, who is part of the nine-member committee that also includes Priyanka Gandhi, said they will take up political and economic issues that affect people.

    “Digvijaya Singh is the chairman and he will shortly call for a meeting to discuss the issues to be taken up. There are so many issues, economical, political and even those related to external affairs policies. Till today, they (Centre) have not spelt out what is their stand on the Taliban,” he said.

    The committee will also discuss and plan agitation on National Education Policy (NEP), increase in prices of essential commodities, LPG, fuel, National Monetisation Pipeline policy and various other issues.  

    While state Congress leaders had staged protests across Karnataka after petrol price touched Rs 100 per litre, on Thursday, members of Youth Congress staged a protest against the increase in price of LPG cooking gas.

    Hariprasad said the NEP was approved during the Covid time and it is being implemented without holding discussions with anyone. “It is the question of the future of our students and the nation,” he said, adding,

    “Normally, the Opposition has the say and the government has the way, but they are going ahead with such a sensitive issue without even holding discussions. It should have been discussed in Parliament.”

  • Nitish puppet in hands of PM, BJP: Digvijaya Singh

    By PTI

    PATNA: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of being a “puppet” in the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.

    He also claimed that the saffron party-led government at the Centre is selling assets created by Congress in the name of the National Monetisation Pipeline.

    “Nitish Kumar has transformed himself into the RSS-BJP mould. He is just a puppet CM in the hands of the PM and the BJP. He cannot be a PM material at all,” Singh told reporters here.

    Kumar’s party, the Janata Dal (United) which is an ally of the BJP at the Centre as well as in the state, recently said he is not in the race for the post of prime minister though he has all the qualities required to become one.

    Nitish Kumar, however, disapproved of the statement.

    Singh claimed that Kumar is working under tremendous pressure of the BJP and that is why chapters on freedom fighter and socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan have been omitted from the post-graduate syllabus of a university named after him in the state.

    Chapters on another socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia has also been removed from the political science syllabus in Jayaprakash University at Chhapra in Saran district, he said.

    Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad were followers of Narayan.

    Prasad has slammed the Nitish Kumar government for removing the two leaders from the PG syllabus of JP University.

    “”Thirty years ago I had established JP University in the name of Jayaprakash Narayan in my karmabhoomi. Now, in the same university, this sanghi government and officials toeing its agenda are removing the ideology of JP-Lohia from the syllabus. This cannot be tolerated. Government should immediately take note,” Prasad tweeted on Wednesday.

    The students of the university have also protested the change in the syllabus.

    Criticising the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) of the Centre, Digvijaya Singh said, “It’s a dangerous bid by the bankrupt Narendra Modi government to raise money by gradually handing over sectors like rail, road, airport and mining to corporates. It’s an anti-people move. Why Nitish Kumar is maintaining a stoic silence over the issue?””

    He said the BJP often claims that nothing has happened in the country in the last 70 years, the majority period of which was ruled by Congress.

    ““If nothing has happened in the last 70 years, what the central government is selling? That is the difference between worthy and unworthy sons, between the Congress and the BJP.”

    Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last month announced the Rs 6 lakh crore NMP that will look to unlock value in infrastructure assets across sectors ranging from power to road and railways.

    To a question on Nitish Kumar’s demand for caste-based census in the country, Singh said the Congress is in favour of it.

    “But, I am sure the PM and the BJP will not accept the demand for it. Both the PM and Nitish Kumar are misleading people over the issue,” he said.

    Nitish Kumar had earlier said that statistics about different castes will help in formulating development schemes effectively as many of them have not benefitted so far in line with their actual population.

    The BJP leadership has so far not taken a categorical stand on the issue which has been lapped up by a number of regional parties, many of them its rivals in different states.

    There is a view that a caste census will bring the Mandal politics to the centre stage of politics and can be an effective weapon in the hands of regional parties to counter the BJP’s Hindutva and welfare planks, the twin issues used by the saffron party to make inroads into the OBC vote bank at the expense of state-based parties.

  • Declare Madhya Pradesh floods as `national calamity’, Digvijaya writes to Shah

    By PTI

    BHOPAL: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday demanded that the Union government declare the recent floods in Madhya Pradesh as a “national calamity”.

    In a letter written in Hindi to Union home minister Amit Shah, he described the floods in northern MP in the first week of this month as the “worst in the last hundred years”.

    Houses and agriculture suffered heavy damage in Bhind, Sheopur, Gwalior, Datia, Shivpuri and other districts, the former chief minister said.

    He blamed mismanagement of water release from a dam for the situation, adding that 30 people died in flood-related incidents, thousands of cattle perished and crops on lakhs of hectares were damaged.

    The floods should be declared as a “national calamity” and the Union government should immediately announce a package for relief and rehabilitation, he demanded.